RESEARCH ON THE USE OF JAPANESE TEXTBOOKS AND LEARNING MATERIALS ON JAPANESE STUDIES

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the use of Japanese learning materials and textbooks on specialized subjects in or oriented to Japanese studies. The data was collected through questionnaires from 530 learners and interviews of 05 lecturers of the courses in Japanese studies, along with statistics of Japanese textbooks at online libraries of 05 universities that offer this program. The study reveals: 1. Other than the materials provided by lecturers directly during the lesson and according to the course's requirements, learners rarely use reference books and materials in Japanese; 2. Reference books and supplementary materials in Japanese available at libraries are still eminently limited, and have not been updated for a long time, while their content is too academic and not suitable for most learners; 3. There are not many books and materials in Japanese by Vietnamese scholars and Japanese language teachers; furthermore, both the teaching and learning materials are provided by the teachers themselves. Given this situation, learners want to update their knowledge regularly through a larger number of materials on a variety of topics, which are easier to understand and more attractive in terms of content, and they should be in both Japanese and Vietnamese languages. On the other hand, lecturers all aspire for solutions to curate quality resources for classes such as access to more supplementary materials, and facilitation to the publication of teaching and learning materials in Japanese compiled by the teachers themselves.